Store-goods lifter.



PATENTED JULY 7, 1903.

J S NICHOLSON STORE GOODS LIFTER.

APPLIGATION FILED MAR. 9, 1903.

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UNITED STATES JOHN S. NICHOLSON,

Patented July '7, 1903.

OF ELGIN, ILLINOIS.

STORE-GOODS LIFTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 733,260,dated July 7, 1903.

Application filed March 9, 1903.

To 6056 whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN S. NICHOLSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Elgin, in the county of Kane and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Store-Goods Lifters; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make anduse the same.

My invention relates to improvements in devices adapted to be used in stores, warehouses, and other placesfor placing cans, boxes, packages, and the like on shelves and for taking the same down therefrom; and it consists in the peculiar construction and combination of devices hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a store-goods lifter embodying my improvement, showing the jaws opened in position to engage a box or package, the latter being indicated in outline in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a top plan View of the same, showing the jaws closed. detailed perspective View showing a modification in the construction of myimproved store-goods lifter whereby the same is especially adapted for use in removing boxes, such as shoe-boxes and the like, from shelves.

In the embodiment of my invention I provide a handle or pole 1, which may be of any suitable length and size. At the upper end of the same is a fixed jaw 2, which is here shown as straight, the inner arm 3 having at its outer end an arm 4. bent at right angles thereto. On the inner side of the arm 4 are cushions 5, made of rubber or other suitable material, which are adapted to increase the frictional grip of the said arm 4 on a can, package, or box when the device is in operation. The jaw 6 has its inner end hinged to the inner arm 3 of the jaw 2, as at 7. The said jaw 6 may be of any suitable shape and is here shown as astraight arm having its outer end beveled on one side and inturned obliquely, as at 8, and also concave, as at 9, to provide wedge-like points 10 at the inner corners of the said jaw 6 to facilitate the insertion of the latter between a pair of boxes, packages, cans, or the like which may be compactly disposed on a shelf. The said jaw Fig. 3 is a,

Serial No. 146,873. (No model.)

6 is provided with a bell-crank arm 11, which extends from its inner end and downwardly also with relation thereto.

A spring 12,'which is preferably of the form here shown, but which may be in practice of any suitable construction, is disposed on the outer side of the inner arm 3 of jaw 2, has one end secured tothe said arm 3, as at 13, and has its free end bearing on and slidably related to the said jaw 6. The function of this spring is to normally close the jaw 6 toward the inner arm 3 of the relatively fixed jaw 2.

I also provide a base-support for the packages, cans, or boxes handled by the device, which base-support is here shown as an arm 1e, attached to and depending from the arm 3 of jaw 2 and having its lower end outturned and adapted to extend under or toward the jaw 6 and to form an entering foot 15. The latter is preferably somewhat angular, as shown, and its end is beveled to an edge 16 to facilitate the insertion of the said foot under a box, can, package, or the like on the shelf. At a suitable distance from the lower end of the pole 1 is a hand-lever 17, which comprises the arms 18 19, disposed at substantially right angles with reference to each other, and said hand-leveris fulcrumed to the pole, as at 20. A suitable flexible connecting element, here shown as a chain 21, has one end attached to the arm 19 of the said hand-lever and its opposite end attached to the bellcrank arm 11 of the pivoted jaw 6. The said chain engages and is guided by suitable direction sheaves or rollers 22, which are suitably mounted on or in said pole.

It will be understood that the box, can, package, or the like may be readily gripped by my improved device and lowered from a shelf or other elevated place by causing the same to be caught between the jaws of the device, as illustrated in Fig. 1. To release the box, can, or package, the hand-lever is operated to cause the jaw 6 to move outwardly from the fixed jaw against the tension of the spring.

I do not desire to limit myself to the precise construction and combination of devices herein shown and described; nor do I desire to limit myself to the arrangement of the jaws with reference to the pole shown in Fig. 1, as in some instances it is desirable to arrange the said jaws with relation to the pole as shown in Fig. 3, this last arrangement being particularly useful when the device is to be employed for handling boxes, such as pasteboard shoe-boxes. In said Fig. 3 I also show ahook 24 at the upper end of the pole, which hook is adapted to be inserted under the flange of the lid of a shoe-box and to be used for partly pulling the shoe-box outwardly from the shelf to facilitate the gripping of the same by the jaws of the lifting device.

Other modifications may be made within the scope of my invention and the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. A device of the class described comprising a handle, a jaw fixed thereto and having angularly-disposed arms to engage an object on two sides, a pivoted jaw adapted to close against one arm of the fixed jaw, a spring to close said pivoted jaw, an operating-arm attached to said pivoted jaw, a lever fulcrumed to the handle, a flexible element connecting the handle and the pivoted-jaw-operating arm, and a direction element engaged by said flexible connecting element, substantially as described.

2. A device of the class described, comprising a handle, a jaw fixed thereto and having angnlarly-disposed arms to engage an object on two sides, a pivoted jaw adapted to close against one arm of the fixed jaw, opening and closing means for the pivoted jaw, and a base-support for the object handled, substantially as described.

3. A device of the class described comprising a handle having a lid-engaging hook at its upper end, a jaw fixed to the handle and having angularly-disposed arms to engage an object on two sides, a pivoted jaw adapted to close against one arm of the fixed jaw, and means to operate the pivoted jaw, substantially as described.

4. A device of the class described comprising a handle, a jaw fixed thereto and having angularly-disposed arms to engage an object on two sides, a pivoted jaw adapted to close against one arm of the fixed jaw, and means to operate the pivoted jaw, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing wit- JOHN S. NICHOLSON. Witnesses:

ARNOLD KOHLER, .Jos. MITCHELL. 

